The present invention relates to a glove affording protective function against poisonous and/or noxiant agents, the glove comprising two mutually connected glove sections which are constructed of different materials.
There a whole series of agents which are absorbed by the skin and lead to serious physical noxae. Examples include the vesicatory mustard gas Yellow Cross (Hd) and the nerve gas sarin. In addition to such highly toxic chemical warfare agents there are a large number of further hazardous substances generated in different sectors, for example as a consequence of uncontrolled combustion or in the course of industrial manufacturing operations, for example as intermediate or waste products. Such substances, for example dioxins or the like, can likewise have a high toxic potential, so that people likely to come into contact with such poisons must wear a suitable protective outfit or be protected against these materials by suitable protective materials.
Appropriate protective suits are available to protect the body, especially the extremities and the trunk. The head, especially the face and also the respiratory tract airways are generally protected by wearing NBC protective masks with or without hoods.
But particular protection must also be ensured for the hands in particular, since these can frequently come into contact directly with the aforementioned poisonous or noxiant agents, for example in the course of military deployments, decontamination duties or in the course of work in industrial manufacture. Particular protection for the hands can be ensured by the wearing of protective gloves suitable for tasks including military deployment or NBC deployment in particular.
The air and water tight, nonbreathable rubber gloves utilized in the prior art for military deployment or NBC deployment, but also for decontamination duties and as part of industrial protective clothing are admittedly impervious to toxic chemical agents but have the serious disadvantage of a practically nonexistent breathability and hence of only minimal wear comfort, and this is disadvantageous in particular in the event of prolonged deployments or under physical exertion.
The prior art further features so-called breathable protective gloves as described for example in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,301,715 B1 and its equivalent WO 01/82728 A1 and DE 201 21 518 U1. The glove described therein is particularly useful for pilots of combat aircraft, since it combines its protective effect against chemical poisons with enhanced tactility. This glove comprises an activated carbon based adsorbing layer for chemical poisonous and warfare agents which is formed over the entire glove area. This glove does possess high breathability, but is not optimized for protection against extremely high concentrations of noxiant or poisonous agents as arise for example when toxic substances are present in liquid form. Thus, it is not always ensured with this glove that the permeation of noxiant or poisonous agents can be completely prevented under extreme situations, for example on contact with objects highly contaminated with liquid poisons.
Furthermore, commonly assigned DE 103 54 902 relates to a breathable protective glove which, similarly to the aforementioned documents, comprises an adsorbing layer, on the basis of activated carbon for example, extending over the entire glove area, although the protective glove comprises an additional blocking layer which similarly extends over the entire glove area. The envisioned blocking layer is disposed between an adsorbing layer and an outer backing layer based on a textile or leather material. The presence of a blocking layer covering the entire hand does indeed lead to an improved protective effect with regard to chemical poisons or noxiants, but the breathability and hence the wear comfort can be impaired to a certain degree, especially under physical exertion or at high ambient temperatures.
The present invention therefore has for its object to provide a glove which at least partially avoids or at least ameliorates the above described disadvantages of the prior art. More particularly, a glove is to be provided that combines a high protective function against poisons or noxiants with good breathability. A particular objective is that concentrated poisons or noxiants as present for example in highly concentrated liquids, aerosols and the like cannot come into contact with the hand or the skin of the hand. A particular objective here is to avoid such toxic substances coming into contact with the hand's inner surface or the gripping area of the hand when the hand comes into contact or grips and/or holds for example contaminated objects or surfaces.
By way of achievement of the object described above, the present invention proposes a glove for covering a hand's inside surface, a hand's outside surface and fingers, in particular a breathable protective glove (for example military protective glove, NBC protective glove or work glove with NBC protective function) affording protective function against poisonous and/or noxiant agents. Further, advantageous embodiments are disclosed herein and form the subject matter of the dependent claims.
The present invention accordingly provides a glove covering at least a hand's inside surface, a hand's outside surface and the fingers of a wearer, for example of a soldier, industrial worker, decontamination specialist, etc., the glove affording a protective function against poisonous and/or noxiant agents. The glove of the present invention comprises two mutually connected glove sections which are constructed of different materials.
It is particular feature of the glove of the present invention that the first glove section is formed of a polymer-based material which is at least essentially impervious to chemical poisonous and/or warfare agents or at least retards their passage and is at least essentially gas and water impervious and generally also water vapor impervious. Owing to this specific embodiment of the first glove section, which preferably covers the gripping area of the hand, i.e. the hand's inside surface and the inside surface of the fingers including the tips of the fingers, the first glove section in particular is able to keep highly concentrated such as liquid poisons or noxiants away from the hand in an effective manner. The result is an efficacious protection for the wearer of the glove of the present invention, even when the wearer comes into direct contact with highly concentrated or liquid sources of noxiant.
It is a further characteristic of the glove of the present invention that the second glove section is formed of a textile sheetlike filtering material which prevents or at least retards the passage of poisonous and/or noxiant agents and is at least essentially gas and water vapor pervious. It is thus ensured in accordance with the present invention that—owing to the gas and water vapor pervious, i.e. breathable construction of the second glove section, the glove of the present invention additionally possesses as a whole a high wear comfort, so that it is suitable for prolonged deployment, for example under physical exertion or at high temperatures.
In other words, the present invention provides a glove affording protective function against poisonous and/or noxiant agents, the glove comprising two mutually connected glove sections, the glove sections each being formed by at least one piece of material, the pieces of material of the two glove sections each consisting of different materials. The first glove section is formed of at least one first piece of material, the first piece of material consisting of at least one polymer-based material at least essentially gas impervious and water impervious and generally also water vapor impervious and at least retarding the passage of poisonous and/or noxiant agents or at least essentially impervious to chemical poisonous and/or warfare agents. The second glove section is formed of at least one second piece of material, the second piece of material consisting of at least one at least essentially gas pervious and water vapor pervious, i.e. breathable textile sheetlike filtering material, the textile sheetlike filtering material being such that it prevents or at least retards the passage of poisonous and/or noxiant agents.
As mentioned, the first glove section in particular ensures that the glove possesses an excellent protective function against highly concentrated noxiants, in particular in liquid form, while the second glove section ensures a high breathability and hence a high wear comfort on the part of the glove of the present invention as well as a good protective effect against poisonous or noxiant agents. The particular feature of the glove in accordance with the present invention is thus to be seen in particular in the fact that the glove in accordance with the present invention comprises two differently constructed glove sections each having protective properties specifically adapted or tailored to the required performance profile—very high protective potential with regard to the gripping or hand's inner surface on the one hand and high breathability with regards to the less endangered back of the hand side (i.e the dorsal side) on the other—so that altogether an optimal protective performance is achieved on the one hand and a very high wear comfort, in particular an excellent breathability, on the other.
For the purposes of the present invention, “inside surface of the hand” and “inside surfaces of the fingers” refer respectively to the regions of the hand and of the fingers which form the gripping surface of the hand (i.e the palm of a hand), while “back of the hand” and “back surfaces of the fingers” refer to the regions of the hand which are opposite the inside surface of the hand and the inside surfaces of the fingers, respectively, (i.e the dorsal side) and thus do not contribute to forming the gripping surface.
The term “longitudinal sides of the fingers” refers to the sides of the fingers which extend in the longitudinal direction and which are disposed between the inside surfaces of the fingers and the back surfaces of the fingers, i.e. the region between the fingers, as it were.
Furthermore, the term “free ends of the fingers” refers to the finger sections which are formed by the fingertip and the directly adjoining finger regions.
The term “glove” is for the purposes of the present invention preferably understood as meaning such a glove as serves for at least essentially complete coverage of a hand's inside surface, a hand's outside surface and of fingers. The glove preferably has the shape of a hand with five fingers. However, this embodiment of the glove according to the invention is not limiting; it is similarly possible in accordance with the present invention to construct the glove in the shape of a mitten for example. It is similarly possible in accordance with the present invention for pairs of fingers (for example index finger and third finger on the one hand and ring finger and small finger on the other) to be accommodated in a separate finger sleeve or receptacle.
For the purposes of the present invention, the term “front surface”—also referred to by the synonym of “inside surface”—of the glove of the present invention at least refers to those regions of the glove which, in the worn state of the glove, at least essentially cover the hand's inner surface and the inside surfaces of the fingers, or extend therebeyond.
Correspondingly, the term “back surface”—also referred to by the synonym of “outside surface” of the glove of the present invention is to be understood as referring to those regions of the glove which, in the worn state, at least essentially cover the back of the hand or at least essentially extend therebeyond.
The expression “on its inside surface”, as used herein, refers to that side or layer of the glove sections which, in the worn state of the glove of the present invention, faces the wearer or is in contact with the wearer or the hand, and further (covering) layers can be present.
Furthermore, the expression “on its outside surface”, as used herein, refers to that side or layer of the glove sections which, in the worn state of the glove, faces away from the wearer or is in contact with the environment, and further (covering) layers may cover the side or layer.
Furthermore, the term “front end” of the glove of the present invention refers to the region of the glove which in the worn state covers in particular the fingers and the midhand or hand region, while the term “rear end” refers to the region which in the worn state covers the wrist and the region of the forearm that joins the rest.
Finally, for the purposes of the present invention, the term “poisonous and/or noxiant agents” is to be understood as meaning substances which have toxic properties and which can lead to health defects or serious physical noxae when absorbed by the skin or when they come into contact therewith. Examples include chemical warfare agents, for example the vesicatory mustard gas Yellow Cross (Hd) and the nerve gas sarin. But poisonous and noxiant agents for the purposes of the present invention also include radioactive, biological and chemical substances having toxic potential (for example NBC warfare agents), but also toxic substances as generated in industrial manufacturing facilities for example or substances which are generated in uncontrolled fashion in fires and environmental catastrophes for example. The poisonous and noxiant agents may be present in solid, liquid and/or gaseous form, for example as an aerosol or the like.
Further advantages, features, properties and aspects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred operative examples with reference to the drawings.